Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child, Netherlands, U.N. Doc. CRC/C/15/Add.114 (1999).

COMMITTEE
ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

Twenty-second
session

CONSIDERATION
OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONVENTION

Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child

NETHERLANDS

1.
The Committee considered the initial report of the Netherlands
(CRC/C/51/Add.1) at its 578th to 580th meetings (see CRC/C/SR.578-580),
held on 4 and 5 October 1999 and adopted, at the 586th
meeting, held on 8 October 1999, the following concluding
observations.

A. Introduction

2.
The Committee expresses its appreciation for the clear
and comprehensive nature of the report, which follows
the Committee's guidelines. The report, however, focuses
heavily on legislation, programmes and policy at the expense
of information on the actual enjoyment of the rights of
the child. While regretting their late submission, the
Committee takes note of the detailed and informative written
answers to the list of issues (CRC/C/Q/NETH.1) and some
additional information provided to it during the course
of the meetings, which enabled the Committee to assess
the situation of the rights of the child in the State
party. The Committee regrets the limitations placed on
the State party's delegation by the unavailability of
appropriate information to answer some of the questions
during the discussion, which imposed constraints on a
productive dialogue.

B.
Positive aspects

3.
The Committee welcomes the commitment and efforts of the
State party in achieving a commendable degree of enjoyment
by children in the State party of their rights through
the establishment of infrastructure, comprehensive policies,
legislation and administrative and other measures.

4.
Moreover, the Committee commends the State party for its
continued commitment to the rights of the child in its
development assistance programmes and notes with satisfaction
that the State party has exceeded the United Nations target
of 0.7 per cent of GDP for development assistance.

5.
The Committee commends the State party's efforts to combat
the phenomenon of child-sex tourism.

6.
The Committee notes with satisfaction the State party's
ratification of the Hague Convention of 1980, on the Civil
Aspects of International Child Abduction, and the Hague
Convention of 1993 on the Protection of Children and Co-operation
in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

C. Principal subjects of concern and the Committee's
recommendations

C.1
General measures of implementation

7.
The Committee is encouraged that the State party has indicated
its willingness to reconsider its reservation to article
10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights. However, it notes with concern the reservations
to articles 26, 37 and 40 of the Convention made by the
State party. In the light of the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action (1993), the Committee encourages the
State party to consider withdrawing all of its reservations.

8.
The Committee notes that cooperation with and the involvement
of non-governmental organizations in the implementation
of the Convention, including the preparation of the report,
remain limited. The Committee encourages the State party
to consider a more systematic approach to involve NGOs,
and civil society in general, throughout all stages of
the implementation of the Convention.

9.
While acknowledging the initial efforts made to disseminate
the Convention, the Committee regrets that the State party's
report was not made widely available, or disseminated.
Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that the State
party is not undertaking information and awareness-raising
activities on an ongoing basis. In this regard, the Committee
recommends that the State party develop an ongoing programme
for the dissemination of information regarding the implementation
of the Convention, in order to maintain a high level of
awareness of the importance of the Convention among children
and parents, civil society and all sectors and levels
of government. Moreover, the Committee recommends that
the State party develop systematic and ongoing training
programmes on the provisions of the Convention for all
professional groups working for and with children, such
as judges, lawyers, law enforcement officials, civil servants,
personnel working in institutions and places of detention
for children, teachers, health personnel, including psychologists,
and social workers.

10.
The Committee expresses its concern that measures and
policies developed by the State party for implementation
at the provincial and municipal levels are not sufficiently
child rights-based. The Committee is concerned that compartmentalization
of policy sectors often leads to fragmentation and overlap
in respect of the implementation of the Convention. In
this regard, the Committee recommends that the State party
adopt a comprehensive national plan of action to implement
the Convention, and give increased attention to intersectoral
coordination and cooperation at and between the central,
provincial and municipal levels of government.

11.
While noting the positive aspects of decentralization
in the implementation of child policies, the Committee
is nevertheless concerned that it may contribute to bottlenecks
in the implementation of provisions of the Convention.
The State party is encouraged to provide support to local
authorities for implementation of the principles and provisions
of the Convention.

12.
While acknowledging the role played by the Council for
Child Protection and the "children's law polyclinics"
in offering legal advice and information to children and
in promoting their interests, the Committee remains concerned
about the lack of an independent mechanism to monitor
the implementation of the Convention. The Committee recommends
that consideration be given to the establishment of a
fully independent ombudsman for children to monitor and
assess the full implementation of the Convention.

13.
The Committee is concerned about the lack of information
regarding the implementation of article 4 of the Convention
and the use to the "maximum extent" of available resources
to implement the economic, social and cultural rights
of children. The Committee urges the State party to develop
ways to establish a systematic assessment of the impact
of budgetary allocations and macroeconomic policies on
the implementation of children's rights and to collect
and disseminate information in this regard.

C.2
General principles

14.
The Committee welcomes the generally good levels of participation
of children, particularly in secondary schools and at
the local level. The Committee encourages the State party
to continue promoting such participation, in particular
in decision-making processes in all matters affecting
children themselves. In this regard, the Committee recommends
that the State party develop training programmes for local
officials and other decision-makers to enable them to
take adequately into consideration the opinions of children
presented to them, with particular emphasis on involving
and reaching vulnerable groups, such as children of ethnic
minorities. The Committee also recommends that more attention
be given to the promotion of child participation in primary
schools.

C.3
Family environment and alternative care

15.
In relation to article 11 of the Convention, the Committee
notes that the Netherlands is a party to the Hague Convention
of 1993, on the Protection of Children and Cooperation
in Respect of Intercountry Adoption and to the Hague Convention
of 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
The Committee encourages the State party to consider concluding
bilateral agreements with States that are not parties
to the two above-mentioned conventions.

16.
The Committee is concerned about the long waiting periods
for placement in residential care. The Committee encourages
the State party to increase the number of places available
in residential facilities, while giving increased attention
to alternatives to placement in residential facilities,
in particular foster family care services, bearing in
mind the principles and provisions of the Convention,
especially the best interests of the child.

17.
The Committee welcomes the recent efforts to establish
a network of child abuse reporting and counselling centres
and the plans to strengthen child abuse monitoring and
reporting systems. However, the Committee remains concerned
about the growth in reported cases of child abuse and
about the level of protection available to children. The
Committee urges the State party to give increased priority
to the prompt implementation and support of monitoring
and reporting systems based on the position paper of the
Ministries of Justice, and Health, Welfare and Sport concerning
the prevention of child abuse and the protection and rehabilitation
offered to victims of child abuse. Furthermore, the Committee
recommends that the State party, in line with developments
in other European countries, take legislative measures
to prohibit the use of all forms of mental and physical
violence against children, including corporal punishment,
within the family.

C.4
Basic health and welfare

18.
The Committee welcomes the efforts made and understands
the difficulties faced by the State party in protecting
girls within its jurisdiction from female genital mutilation
carried out outside its territory. Nevertheless, the Committee
urges the State party to undertake strong and effectively
targeted information campaigns to combat this phenomenon,
and to consider adopting legislation with extraterritorial
reach which could improve the protection of children within
its jurisdiction from such harmful traditional practices.

19.
The Committee remains concerned that the right of access
to medical advice and treatment without parental consent,
such as testing for HIV/AIDS, may be compromised in instances
where the bill for such services is sent to the parents,
violating the confidentiality of the doctor-child relationship.
The Committee recommends that the State party take adequate
measures to ensure that medical advice and treatment remain
confidential for children of appropriate age and maturity,
in accordance with articles 12 and 16 of the Convention.

20.
The Committee is concerned at the low rates of breastfeeding.
The Committee encourages the State party to undertake
breastfeeding promotion campaigns, stressing its advantages
and the negative impact of substitutes, while providing
counselling to HIV/AIDS-infected mothers about the risk
of transmission of HIV/AIDS through breastfeeding.

C.5
Education, leisure and cultural activities

21.
The Committee is concerned that not enough attention has
been given to the inclusion of human rights education
in the school curricula, particularly at the primary level.
The Committee urges the State party to consider introducing
human rights issues into the school curricula at earlier
ages and to ensure that the Convention on the Rights of
the Child and its provisions are adequately covered in
the existing curricula for older children and in new curricula
for primary school pupils.

22.
The Committee welcomes the efforts being made to address
the problem of bullying in schools, including the "Safe
schools" campaign. The Committee encourages the State
party to continue its efforts to prevent bullying in schools,
to collect information on the extent of this phenomenon
and, in particular, to strengthen structures to enable
children to participate in adequately addressing and resolving
this problem.

C.6
Special protection measures

23.
While noting the efforts to deal with unaccompanied asylum-seeking
minors, the Committee is concerned that they may need
to receive increased attention. The Committee recommends
that the State party strengthen measures so as to provide
immediate counselling and prompt and full access to education
and other services for refugee and asylum-seeking children.
Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party
take effective measures for the integration of these children
into its society.

24.
The Committee takes note of the efforts made to raise
steadily the age of recruitment into the armed forces
and involvement in hostilities. It also notes the declaration
stating the intention of the State party to apply a higher
standard than that required by the Convention, and its
commitment to international efforts in this regard. Nevertheless,
the Committee urges the State party to reconsider its
present recruitment policies, with a view to setting the
age of recruitment into the armed forces at 18 years.

25.
The Committee welcomes the information provided on the
improvements that the Youth Custodial Institutions Act
will introduce to deal, as quickly as possible, with complaints
regarding ill-treatment. Nonetheless, the Committee recommends
that due attention be given to ensuring that efforts to
settle such complaints promptly through a mediation procedure
will not result in less than thorough investigations.

26.
The Committee is concerned about the delays faced by juvenile
offenders in need of psychological and psychiatric treatment.
The Committee recommends that the State party increase
the availability of places in institutions in order to
provide these juvenile offenders with timely and appropriate
treatment.

27.
On the protection of children from sexual abuse, the Committee
welcomes the attention given by the State party to the
impact of the "complaint requirement" for prosecuting
offences committed against children between 12 and 16
years. However, the Committee remains concerned that the
balance sought between protecting children against sexual
abuse and protecting their sexual freedom may still unduly
limit protection from abuse. The Committee also remains
concerned that efforts to increase the protection of children
against exploitation in the production of pornography
have not made further progress. The Committee encourages
the State party to continue reviewing its legislation
and policies so as to modify the "complaint requirement"
for prosecution of sexual offences committed against children
over 12. Furthermore, the Committee encourages the State
party to change its legislation with a view to improving
the protection of all children from inducement to participate
in the production of pornographic shows or materials,
and from other forms of commercial sexual exploitation.
While welcoming the introduction of such legislation,
the Committee also encourages the State party to consider
reviewing the "dual criminality" requirement in legislation
establishing extraterritorial jurisdiction for cases of
sexual abuse of children.

28.
The Committee notes the concern of the State party with
respect to the problem of the sexual exploitation of children,
often victims of trafficking, including the disappearance
of unaccompanied minor asylum-seekers from reception centres.
The Committee, however, remains concerned that no specific
policies and measures appear to be contemplated at this
point to address the problem as a matter of urgency. The
Committee urges the State party to give prompt and serious
attention to the need to ensure that children are not
used as prostitutes and that asylum-seeking procedures,
while fully respecting the rights of unaccompanied minor
asylum-seekers, effectively protect children from involvement
in trafficking for sexual exploitation. Further, the Committee
recommends that the State party adopt a comprehensive
national plan of action to prevent and combat commercial
sexual exploitation of children, taking into account the
recommendations formulated in the Agenda for Action adopted
at the 1996 Stockholm World Congress Against Commercial
Sexual Exploitation of Children.

29.
The Committee notes the monitoring of the educational
performance of children from ethnic minorities, but it
remains concerned that the results continue to show noticeable
disparities. The Committee urges the State party to review
its efforts closely and to consider the possibility of
providing further assistance to children at risk and the
need to provide assistance to families from ethnic minorities
with socioeconomic problems, thus addressing the root
causes of poor educational performance.

30.
The Committee is seriously concerned about the implications
of the reservation entered by the State party on the applicability
of adult criminal law to children over 16 years of age.
The Committee is also seriously concerned at information
provided which indicates that children aged 12 to 15 are
also sometimes tried under adult criminal law. The Committee
urges the State party to ensure that under the existing
law no child under the age of 16 at the time of the commission
of a crime is tried under adult criminal law, and to review
the reservation mentioned above with a view to withdrawing
it. The Committee further recommends that the State party
takes legislative steps to ensure that a life sentence
cannot be imposed on children who are tried under adult
criminal law.

31.
Finally, in the light of article 44, paragraph 6, of the
Convention, the Committee recommends that the initial
report and written replies submitted by the State party
be made widely available to the public, along with the
summary records of the relevant meetings and concluding
observations adopted by the Committee. Such wide distribution
should generate debate and awareness of the Convention
and the state of its implementation, particularly within
the Government, the relevant ministries, the Parliament
and non-governmental organizations.